Summery fresh panzanella salad recipe with nectarines, homemade garlic basil croutons, and quick pickled red onions. Easy to prepare and a truly family friendly salad!
It is a great feeling to walk away from the supper table and have the salad completely gone with everyone still talking about. This salad was such a success with the kids it makes me wonder why I’m not incorporating fruit into salads more.
Homemade croutons also don’t hurt. Nectarine Panzanella Salad is one for summer, but also anytime to want to make sure everyone at the table is excited about a salad.
My kids generally like salad and are usually up for trying anything I’m eating, but this salad took me by surprise in that my pickiest eater loved it the most. I had to regulate her intake of the quick pickled red onion slices (I have no idea why she was so into them, but it got her really into the entire salad so I wasn’t about to fight it).
They loved the croutons; they thought they were so fun and tasty. One of them actually kept saying “it’s yummy” and holding a crouton high above her head before popping them into her mouth. Sometimes spinning the littlest ingredients, like bread in this case, makes dinner so much more fun and have the kids dive into it.
The nectarines can easily be substituted for peaches if that’s more along your family’s taste. I know some people aren’t into savoury fruit, but this is a great way to incorporate it into meals and everyone’s diet since there’s no real dressing on this salad. The vinegar from the pickled red onions and a drizzle of olive oil is all that is needed to make the nectarine and tomatoes shine.
Still unconvinced? Try this Kid-Friendly Salad instead.
Summery fresh panzanella salad with nectarines, homemade croutons, and quick pickled red onions. Easy to prepare and a truly family-friendly salad!
- 220 grams loafed bread*, cut into 2" cubed pieces
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 tsp dried or 1 tbsp fresh basil leaves
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 4 medium ripe nectarines, stones removed and sliced into 1/4" thick slices
- 1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1/4 small red onion, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 10 small fresh basil leaves
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 pinch flaky sea salt
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Preheat oven to 400°F.
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Line a baking tin with parchment paper and toss together bread pieces, garlic, dried basil, olive oil. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Turning pieces once halfway through, bake for 20-25 minutes, or until bread pieces are golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
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Pace red onion slices in a small bowl and cover with red wine vinegar. Allow to sit while croutons are baking.
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Place nectarine slices, tomato halves, croutons, drained pickled red onion slices, and fresh basil leaves in a large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and lightly sprinkle with flaky sea salt and fresh ground pepper.
* French bread, sourdough or any country style loaf will work here.
Enjoy! xo
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